


Seasons of Love

by Going_Geek



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, mentions of other YJ characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 04:11:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Going_Geek/pseuds/Going_Geek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just like seasons, relationships tend to change.  A look at the very slow progression of Dick and Babs in the YJ universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seasons of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters in this story. They are the property of DC and I am merely using them for entertainment purposes. The title is from the musical RENT written by Jonathan Larson, and is also not mine.

_This is going to be a long year,_ Dick thought as he nervously surveyed his surroundings.

Truth be told, nervous didn’t even begin to describe what he was feeling at the moment.  It was his first day of Gotham Academy; well, actually, it was his first day of school, ever.  He still wished that the situation could’ve stayed the same, with Alfred homeschooling him just as the butler had done ever since Dick had come to live at the Manor.  However, Bruce was under the impression that Dick needed to have friends his own age, and his adoptive father had not been swayed by Dick’s observation of the hypocritical nature of said impression. 

Which is why he found himself standing at the prestigious school, wishing the earth would open up and swallow him whole.  It wasn’t that Dick was against making friends, it was just that he didn’t think that this was the place where he would make them.  He’d already met a good number of those who were now his classmates and they hadn’t had any interest in befriending him.  Already, he could see his peers shooting dirty looks in his direction.

_This is going to be a VERY long year._

A flash of red caught his eye and he turned his attention to a beautiful girl who looked as uncomfortable with her surroundings as he did.  As though she felt his notice, her eyes moved towards him and their gazes met.  Dick expected her to turn away from him in disgust, so he was surprised when she graced him with a small wave and started heading towards where he was standing.

“Hi,” she said when she reached him.

“Hi,” he echoed.

“You’re Dick Grayson, right?  Bruce Wayne’s son?”

He nodded hesitantly.  “Yeah.”

The redhead grinned and Dick swore the Earth tilted slightly at that moment.  “I’m Barbara Gordon.”

_Gordon?_  

“The Commissioner’s daughter?”

“That’s the one,” she said, rolling her eyes.  “Figured us brats with famous fathers should stick together.”

“You know he’s not really my dad, right?”

Barbara shrugged.  “I know he’s not your biological one; but I’ve seen you guys together on TV plenty of times, and I don’t think that matters.”

Dick was floored and gaped at his companion… This girl was extraordinary.  “I guess so, but it is a little more complicated than that.”

“Whatever.”  The redhead shook her head. “Anyway, the next time you see that guy you live with, thank him for me.”

“Why?”

“For the scholarship, of course,” she answered.  “Do you really think my dad could afford to send me to a place like this on his salary?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so thank him for me, will you?”

“Okay, I will,” he promised, all the while thinking that he’d thank Bruce on his own behalf as well.

\-----

Although all of the Ice Fortresses had been destroyed, it seemed as though Gotham hadn’t been informed.  It was a rather chilly city, but these low temperatures were still unheard of for mid-November.  Even after living there for about half a decade, Dick had still not gotten used to the cold weather of his new home. 

He frowned as he pulled his jacket out of his locker.  “Is it too soon to be wishing it was summer?” 

Barbara laughed.  “You know that it’s supposed to be even colder tomorrow, right?”

A quick check of his phone confirmed it.  “This is getting ridiculous.”

“I just wish Dad was picking me up today so I didn’t have to take the bus,” she said, wrapping her scarf around her neck.

Dick finished zipping up his jacket.  “Why don’t you just come home with me?  Bruce is going to stay late at the office tonight, so I wouldn’t mind the company.”

The idea of Alfred’s cooking sounded better than whatever frozen entrée she had waiting for her at home.  “Let me call my dad and make sure that it’s okay.”

“Yeah, okay,” he said as he watched his friend pull out her phone and call her dad.  His attention was stolen momentarily by a long blond ponytail.  “Bye, Artemis!”

The sophomore girl looked over her shoulder with a quizzical expression and shook her head when she noticed him.  She mumbled something that sounded like “weirdo” and continued on her way.  He grinned at the thought of when she would finally figure out who he really was; although, he was fairly sure he’d have to dodge some projectiles, but that look on her face would be priceless.

“Okay, Daddy.” Barbara’s voice brought him back to reality suddenly.  “See you tonight.  Bye.”

He raised his eyebrows expectantly as she tucked her phone back into her bag. “So?”

She shrugged.  “He actually seemed really relieved, to tell you the truth.  Ooh, can I borrow that after you’re done?”

Dick, who had been applying some lip balm, stopped suddenly.  “What?”

“My lips are ridiculously chapped and I don’t want them crack,” she explained.  “So, can I borrow it?”

The tube was handed over without further discussion because Dick suddenly had lost all ability to speak.  He watched with great interest as she coated her lips with the balm and he couldn’t help but notice how shiny and _kissable_ her mouth was.

_Oh my God!  I want to kiss her!_

“Thanks for that,” she said as the container exchanged hands again.  She smacked her lips together.  “They feel better already.”

He tore his eyes away from her face and carefully put the tube back in his pocket.  “Come on, Alfred’s probably wondering what’s taking me so long.”

She took his arm and snuggled up close to him.  “Just blame it on me.”

“Don’t think I won’t.”

She bumped his hip with hers and the two of them laughed all the way to Alfred’s car.

Later that night, before going to bed, Dick took out the lip balm and applied it to his own lips.  He fell asleep wondering how sweet her kisses would taste.

\-----

“This is so beautiful.  We were really lucky that the Junior class trip coincided with the Cherry Blossom Festival.”

He snorted. “Luck had nothing to do with it, Miss Trip Organizer.”

“I don’t know what you are implying,” Barbara told him, looking the very picture of innocence.  “Well, anyway, thanks for coming here with me.”

Dick squeezed her hand.  “I told you that I wanted to come, so stop acting like it’s such a big deal.”

“It’s just that the rest of the class decided to go on the Hall of Justice tour and I feel really bad about making you miss that.”

“I’ve been on that tour so many times now that I could give one myself,” he said.  “There was no way I was spending our free day going there.”

“Still, you didn’t have to spend it here with me.”

“True,” he agreed.  “But I’ve never been to the Festival before and I wanted to check it out.”

“I still can’t believe this is your first time.”

“Why?”

He had grown tall in the last few years and Barbara still got a little thrill every time she had to look up to meet his eyes.  “Because this seems like exactly the kind of romantic thing you would take one of your girls to.”

“Well, maybe I was waiting for the right girl.”

A smirk.  “Smooth, Grayson.”

“You love it.”

The wind picked up slightly and the air became alive with the falling petals; the two of them stopped to take in the sight, both really pleased to be sharing it with present company.  When the breeze died down, Barbara turned to look at her best friend and she burst out laughing.

“What?” Dick asked bewildered.

“Your hair!”

“ _What about it?_ ”

“All the petals that fell must have gotten stuck to your hair gel,” she said, taking out her phone and snapping a quick picture.  “There. Now, that I have saved that for prosperity, let me see if I can’t help you get them out of that mess.”

“Thank you,” he grumbled as leaned his head down to make it easier on her.  Her deft little hands worked their magic, and soon he found himself feeling grateful that he had gotten flowers stuck in his hair.

“All done.”  Barbara stood and began brushing her hands off on her jeans.  Dick noticed that she, too, had been gifted with flowery hair.  She looked radiant with her large smile and light-colored petals mixed into her red locks that shone in the sunlight.

“Babs…”

“Is that Jason?”  She squinted to get a better look.  “It is him!  And he’s holding hands with a girl!  Did you know about this?”

“I may have mentioned to my little brother what our plans were for the day,” he admitted.  “I may have also suggested to him that it would make a decent activity for a first date.”

“Does Bruce know?  What am I saying, it’s Bruce; of course he knows.”  She scanned the crowd.  “He’s here, isn’t he?”

“He probably had planned to be, but _something_ came up.”

“Does that make you the chaperone?”

“Nope,” he said, taking her hand and leading her in the opposite direction that his brother was.  “We’ve got a deal in place.  I won’t bother him on his date and he won’t bother me on mine.”

Barbara stopped.  “Is this a date?”

“Isn’t it?”

“Dick…” she breathed out in exasperation.

“Babs…” he said, mimicking her tone.

“You know why we can’t do this.”

“No, I know why you think we can’t do this,” he explained, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her.  “And I disagree wholeheartedly with the absurd notion.”

“Not wanting to risk our friendship on a relationship that neither of us is mature enough to handle is not absurd.”

“I love you.”

She felt her heart soar at his words; but no, she had to be strong.  “I love you… a lot.  So much that it scares me.”

He bowed his head.  “I know what you mean.”

“Hey.”  She leaned down until she could look into his eyes.  “When we get together, I want it to last, okay?  And I don’t think that’s going to happen if we attempt it right now.”

“You’re right,” he sighed, letting his arms go slack.

“But, just because we’re not ready for the main event,” she started, pausing to place a kiss on his lips.  “That shouldn’t stop us from enjoying a sneak preview.”

“What exactly does that mean?” Dick asked playfully.

Another kiss.  “It means that you better make this date a good one.”

He grinned and kissed her nose.  “What if I make it so good that you have second thoughts about not being together?”

She just shook her head at him.  _Silly boy, I already do._

\------

 

A seemingly unending heat wave had struck Gotham and her citizens had been forced to stay inside to escape the dangerous temperatures.  The bad news was that the air conditioner in her apartment had broken down.  However, the good news was that Dick had offered to let her crash at his place until it could be repaired.

Her eyes wandered over to where her savior was currently lounging on his couch, engrossed in some novel that Tim had recommended.  He was so beautiful… Dick had always been cute, of course, but somewhere along the line her best friend had grown into a gorgeous specimen of a man.  Which was something her girlfriends on the Team couldn’t help but point out whenever Nightwing made an appearance on the Watchtower.

But they didn’t get that Dick was so much more than a pretty face… even though his face was really, really pretty.  He was generous, kind, smart, funny, courageous and a number of other wonderful qualities.  She was aware that he wasn’t perfect but he was perfect for her.

And that’s why she had spent the last day and a half trying to find a way to start what would, no doubt, be a very important conversation.

“What?”  Dick asked, not bothering to look up from his book.

Barbara was confused.  “I didn’t say anything.”

“No, but you’ve been staring at me for the past ten minutes,” he told her, meeting her eyes.  “So what’s up?”

Well, this hadn’t been how she had thought it would go.  “You’re ready.”

“For what?”

Again reality failed to live up to expectations; she had imagined he would know exactly what she was talking about.  “For me… for us.”

He put his book down.  “Do you mean that?”

She nodded vigorously.  “And I’m ready, too.”

Dick leaned forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her onto his lap.  “Does this mean that you want to give us a try?”

“I want to give forever a try.”

He unsuccessfully attempted to swallow back a laugh.  “That was cheesy.”

“What?  I thought you’d like that.”

“I did, I did,” he said, stroking her cheek.  “It’s just you aren’t allowed to make fun of me for my lines anymore.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” she protested.  She thought about it, and expelled the air through her nose.  “Okay, fine, it was.”

“I really do appreciate the sentiment, though.”  He followed up his reassurance with a kiss.  “I love you, Babs.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I guess I like you, too.”

He growled playfully and dumped her off onto the couch.  “So what is it that made you change your mind about us?”

“I just didn’t want to waste any more time not being with you.”

Their hands reached for each other and fingers intertwined.  “Thank you for finally giving me a chance.”

“Well, thank you for being patient enough for me to figure myself out.”

“I would have waited forever for you,” he said.  The comment hung in the air for a second before the two of them broke out in laughter.  He poked her side.  “Hey, you’re not supposed to make fun of me for my lines anymore, remember?”

“Then don’t make the so bad, then!”

“Oh, you know you love them.”

“I love _you_ ,” she corrected.  “I barely tolerate that particular personality quirk.”

“You regretting your decision, yet?”

“Not yet, Hunk Wonder, not yet.”


End file.
